Straight in a straight line running back to you
by YceQueen
Summary: One year after Emma was given her false memories, she can't help but feel like something's not quite right. When she starts having dreams about a man she's never seen before, she wonders if she's losing her mind. In the Enchanted Forest, meanwhile, Snow and the others discover that reversing the Curse has a side-effect no one could've predicted.
1. Chapter 1

**WRTIER'S NOTE: this story takes place after 3x11 "Going Home". This is a multichapter story, although at this point, I am unsure of how many chapters there will be. I hope you'll enjoy it, and let me know what you think!**

Emma sat down on the couch, anxiously tapping her foot on the floor. She'd been pacing around the living room prior to this, but found it had only made her more nervous. For the biggest part of the day, she'd been able to pretend everything was alright, and the strange encounter with the obsessive man this morning had just been a coincidence. But hours later, after trying to deny it all she could, she was forced to admit to herself that this had not just been a coincidence, and that it was perhaps part of something more. Because while she had been too occupied with keeping the man out of her apartment at first, she later realized that somehow, he had also looked familiar to her. She had seen him before, in her dreams. More than once. And he wasn't the only one. There were others. Other people whom she kept seeing in her dreams, people she'd called her family, friends, lover perhaps even. And yet up until today, those faces belonged to people she had never met in her life.

To be fair, this wasn't the only strange incident. There were other things, things she was unable to explain. She had a huge dislike for apples even though she could clearly remember loving them as a kid. She could, with great detail, tell you how to take apart a gun and then put it back together again, even though she'd never seen one up close. And when Henry came back from school with an assignment regarding typical fairytale villains, she had inexplicably told him to pick Peter Pan, who, as far as she knew, was not exactly a villain in any modern day fairytale.

She sighed, and let her fingers trail over her left hand, down to her wrist, and then stopped when she felt it. The final, strange incident. For some reason she had yet to discover, she was wearing a brown shoelace around her wrist. She could not remember when she had put it on, it could've been years ago, yet it felt much shorter. And she could not for the life of her figure out why, or more importantly, who. It certainly didn't belong to any shoe she might've had. Sometimes, if she tried hard enough, if she would focus long enough, she felt as though the answer was on the tip of her tongue, and if she would just hold on a little longer she would be able to see a face. But it always seemed just out of reach.

The front door of apartment opened as Henry shouted "I'm home!" He turned around to put his coat away, and Emma used these few seconds to put a smile on her face and get up. "Hey kid, did you have a good time at Jake's?". "Yeah it was great, we had some pizza, played a few videogames," he replied. "Did you thank his mom for bringing you home?" Henry rolled his eyes. "Yes mom, just like I do every time.". Emma smiled. "Good. And don't roll your eyes at me like that, kid, or you can make your own breakfast tomorrow. Now go brush your teeth, it's almost time for bed." Henry disappeared to the bathroom, and Emma sat down on the couch again, drinking the last bit of hot coco, which was cold by now. Soon, both Swans had gone to bed and fallen asleep with ease.

The dreams came again. People she did not know, yet seemed so familiar to her. A woman with short black hair, a man with blond hair that almost seemed to have a certain shade of gold. They were beaming at her, the woman overcome with joy, and the man with an endearing look on his face Emma recognised, for this is how she would always look at Henry. A group of men would never be far away, there was always a Dalmatian somewhere in the background, and a man whose brown eyes could best be described as those of a loyal puppy. And of course the man from this morning, with his dark hair and dark eyeliner. It made sense to her he was a pirate. Why wouldn't he be one? Everything made sense to her while she was dreaming. It made sense that she knew these people, that she was happy to be with them. She'd seen their faces in her dreams for weeks now, and they were always the same. Emma smiled as she looked at all of them. The she noticed something. Something new, _someone_ new. In the background, behind a woman with long brown hair, she saw him. She hadn't seen him before in her dreams, yet he seemed the most familiar one of all. He was surrounded by other people so he surely had to notice them, but he only looked at her. His sad gray eyes seemed to look right into her soul and she suddenly had this aching feeling to run to him, let him know everything was alright. It seemed like something she had done before. It made sense to her. But just as she started to move towards him, just as his face broke into a smile after seeing her do so, she awoke with a jolt. For a few seconds she didn't know what had woken her up. Then she saw the cricket on her window. "Not you again", she grunted as she threw a pillow at it. Crickets, in New York. _Honestly_. Emma shook her head and laid down on her pillow again. For a few more minutes she tried to remember why this man from her dreams had seemed so important to her, but she quickly fell asleep. This time, there were no dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for kind your reviews, I'm glad you liked the first chapter! This one might seem a little boring and useless, but it's necessary in order to get their part of the story moving as well. Hope you'll enjoy it anyway :)**

ENCHANTED FOREST, ONE YEAR AGO

The gigantic purple cloud appeared in the sky once again, just as it had 30 years ago. But this time, it wasn't there to take anyone way. No, this time, when it cleared, it had brought people back. The small group of people stood frozen for a few seconds, adjusting to their new, yet familiar environment. Then, a voice broke their silence; "We're back."

As soon as Snow had spoken, everyone else started talking as well. Whispering at first, but soon their voices grew louder, discussing what had just happened, until one voice, barely audible, yelled "Hey look out!". The group fell silent once again as they looked around for a while, wondering where the voice had come from. "I'm up here," the voice sighed. That's when they spotted him, the tiny cricket hovering in the air, just next to Belle.

"Oh my God, Archie!" Snow gasped. "You're… You're a cricket again."

"Yeah, I guess that was unavoidable. I mean, look at the rest of you," the cricket replied. It wasn't until he had pointed it out to them, that others realized they, too, had changed appearances. Both Snow and Regina's hair was long again, Belle was wearing her golden dress, the dwarves were all back in their mining outfits, and Charming and Neal's outfits had changed as well.

"Regina, what is this, why have we changed back?" Snow asked the woman standing in front of her.

"It's the curse. It's been reversed, taken us back to when it all began. Storybrooke never happened, so the curse returned what was lost." Regina explained. She seemed distracted however, worried. She didn't like looking like her old self again. The long hair pinned back, the long, dark dresses. It reminded her of who she used to be, the Evil Queen. And yes, maybe she was still her, but she'd like to think she's a different version now. The one her son knew she could be. Then, something in the distance caught her eye. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing at two people running towards the group.

The others all turned their head in the same direction, narrowing their eyes, hoping to make out the two people in the distance. It was Neal who recognized them. "That's Philip. And Aurora!"

Snow now recognized them as well, and her face broke into a smile. At least there were people they knew, people they could call friends. Soon, Philip and Aurora had reached them, and the two princesses fell into each other's arms. "I can't believe it's you," Aurora said, beaming at the woman she had met a year ago. "How did get back here, what happened? Is Emma with you?" she asked, looking around, clearly hoping to see the blond woman.

"Ehm, no, she's not," Snow answered quietly. "It's a bit of a long story, but what it all comes down to is that things were going wrong in Storybrooke. Very wrong. In order to prevent another curse from happening, Regina was forced to re-enact the old one, or rather reverse it. That's why we're all back again, all of us. And Emma is not with us, because Henry couldn't come with us to the EnchantedForest. He wasn't born here, doesn't belong here. And we couldn't leave him alone. So… So Emma went with him," Snow whispered.

"Oh my God," Aurora covered her mouth with her hand. "That's awful. So, they're still back there, in Storybrooke?"

"There is no Storybrooke," Regina sneered. "And they don't remember it ever being there, either."

Philip looked confused. "Don't remember? How do they not remember a town they have lived in for so many years?"

"It's part of the deal," Neal spoke. "Storybrooke never happened, so therefore there is nothing to remember. Not for them. Regina offered to give them happy memories instead, to make it less painful." Philip and Aurora now looked at Regina, and it began to dawn on them who she was, and what role she had played in everything that happened in the last few years.

"Not that they'd know it was less painful, of course," Neal added more quietly.

If the pair felt any resentment towards Regina, they must have chosen not to act on it, because Aurora turned back to Neal. "So, you did find Henry and Emma, and the rest, only to be separated from them again?"

"How's that for irony, huh?" Charming sighed. Aurora didn't need to ask who this was. The handsome man, dressed as a prince, with hair that shone like gold. There was no question that this was Emma's father.

"I'm sorry," Aurora said. Then, turning her head to Regina, she added "For all of you. This is probably not how you expected to go home, if you were expecting it at all." A brief nod from Regina, and a smile from Aurora sealed their immediate understanding. There was no need for any more accusations.

"So, what will you do now?" Philip asked.

"I don't know, I haven't really given it much thought yet. Everything happened so quickly, there was hardly any time to prepare," Snow answered. She turned to her husband. "I suppose we'll go back to our castle?"

Charming nodded. "Yes, we are, I think that's the best thing we can do right now. Try to turn this land back into what it used to be. God knows what it's like these days."

"Nothing much," Aurora replied. "Most of the people who were trapped inside Cora's bubble were her people. So after she left, they started roaming the place. Ravaging homes, stealing from the few kind people who were left. I wouldn't say this land has become a wasteland, but it's not as enchanted as it used to be."

"Then the decision is made," Snow spoke firmly. "We'll return to our castle, and we will take back this kingdom. We will return this kingdom to its former glory." She looked at her friends, and added, "All of you who wish to join us and live in our castle, are most certainly welcome. Everyone."

When Snow finished speaking, Regina looked up. Surely, she couldn't have meant her as well? But the look on Snow's face confirmed she had. "You've proven your loyalty, Regina. And maybe it wasn't to us, but it was to Henry. And we can't let that tear us apart now. We have to stick together," Snow said.

Regina hesitated. This was not who she was. She wasn't the kind of woman to be a part of a family, to live a happy life. This much was clear to her. Or it had been. Then she remembered the brown haired boy with his soft brown eyes that would lit up with joy whenever she'd promised to be kinder. To be a family. And she realized that even though her son wasn't her now, she was going to keep that promise. So she smiled. "I would like that, yes."

Snow beamed at her. "Excellent. To our castle it is."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks again for your kind words! Here's chapter 3, let me know what you think!**

NEW YORK, PRESENT DAY

"I – I'm so sorry – sorry," Emma said, trying to suppress a yawn as she apologized to Henry's teacher.

"Didn't sleep well last night?" she asked.

"No, I slept just fine. I'm just so exhausted lately," Emma replied. "I've already had 2 cups of coffee and I've only been awake for an hour."

"Maybe you should go see the doctor," the teacher suggested. "I know it's not really any of my business, but Henry told me just the other day that he thinks you're not doing well. And looking at you now… Well, I have to agree with him.'

Emma stared at the woman. She didn't feel very comfortable discussing her personal issues with, well anyone, really. But if Henry had noticed she wasn't feeling too well, maybe she _should_ go to the doctor. She didn't want her son to worry about her own problems. "Yeah," she sighed, "Maybe I'll do that."

On her way to work she decided to order another coffee, but as she was sipping from her cup, a man across the streets caught her eye. _Him_. The one from last night. The one she'd seen in her dream. But more than that, she knew there was something so familiar about him, about his brown, slightly curled hair, and his kind face with those sad eyes. She stared at him for hours, or maybe they were just seconds, but then it was over, because someone tapped her on her shoulder so abruptly, that when she looked up again, the man had disappeared.

It took her a few seconds to register the voice talking to her, but when she managed to tear away her gaze and looked next to her, she let out a grunt. "Oh God, not you again. Wasn't the punch in the crotch enough proof that I don't want to have anything to do with you?" Emma turned around and to walk away, but the man with too much eyeliner simply followed her. "I've had much worse," he grinned. "Besides, can't allow that to stand in the way of my mission, Swan."

"Whatever this so-called mission is, I'm not interested. And how do you know my name anyway?" "Well I suppose any normal person would tell you they simply read it on your door, but truth is; I know you." the man replied.

"That's great, but I don't know you, nor do I have any desire to know you. Just the clothes alone. What, did you escape the nuthouse or something, Captain Hook?" Emma sneered.

"Oh, if you only understood the irony of that," the man chuckled. "You may call me Killian."

"And you may get the hell away from me. Seriously, why are you still following me?" she asked as they turned a corner.

"Because as I told you yesterday, your family is in danger and we need your help to save them." "See that's a problem right there," Emma said, stopping in front of a building, turning to Hook to barricade the doors. "I don't have any family. It's just me and my kid. No one else. So why don't you just turn around and walk away. Go bother someone else with your fantasies."

"Oh trust me, love. My fantasies include _very_ different things." The man smirked, but then frowned as he read the sign on the building. "Hang on, what is this? Is this where you work? But – it's a real estate agency."

"Yes, I work in the real estate, can you leave now?" Emma asked him in an exasperated tone.

"Hm, have to admit, didn't see that one coming. It's involves… selling houses, yes? But I suppose that was all part of it," Hook mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. Emma rolled her eyes and attempted to enter the building when Hook grabbed her by her arm. "Look, I understand that you don't know me, that you think you don't -," "Oh I _know_ I don't," Emma interrupted him.

"But then answer me this," Hook continued. "Just answer me one question, and if I turn out to be wrong, I will walk away and leave you alone, okay?" Emma stared at him but didn't respond, so he assumed she'd agreed. "When I came to your doorstep yesterday morning, before you kicked me in the groin, you recognized me, didn't you? Just for a split second, you did. Didn't you?"

Emma glared at him, wanting to prove him wrong, but she couldn't. "I – I don't know, okay. Yes, you seemed familiar, but who knows; maybe I've seen you around here a few times, just passed you on the streets and I simply forgot all about it."

"In these clothes? Not likely," Hook grinned. Emma sighed. "Look, I don't actually know you, okay? And I don't know what this family crap is you keep talking about, but you've got it all wrong. I don't have any family, I'm alone. Always have been." She could tell her voice would crack if she would talk about this anymore, so she stepped back and put her arms in front of her. "Just leave me alone, okay? Have enough decency to do that."

And with that, she turned around, walked through the doors and left Hook standing on the street. When she had entered the elevator and was sure he couldn't see her anymore, she breathed out. She hadn't realized it before, but she could now feel her entire body shaking. Not out of fear though, no. No, this man, Killian, hadn't scared her. But the idea that people from her dreams could now turn up in real life as well, yes, that did scare her. Because how could that possibly be?


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you once again for your kind words, and thanks for sticking by me and this story. Hope you'll like this chapter! :)**

ENCHANTED FORREST, A YEAR AGO

Since they had no horses, and came across ogres quite a few times, it took them nearly a week to reach the castle. In this week, they had said goodbye to Granny, who wanted to find Red first, and to Aurora and Philip, who had opted to remain in their own palace. They had also reunited with Geppetto and Pinocchio, who came staggering out of the bushes on the third day, looking for anyone who might've returned as well.

When they finally arrived at their home, the place looked abandoned, with layers of dust upon every object, doors hanging off their hinges, and the huge chandelier had fallen to the floor, having scattered its crystals everywhere.

"Wow, you have a… lovely place," Neal said.

Charming rolled his eyes "I know it doesn't look that great right now, but you just wait and see what it looks like when it's all cleaned up again." He sighed. "Well, they did say savages were roaming other people's houses now." He drew out his sword, and gestured Hook to come with him. "We'll take a look, make sure this place really is abandoned. Regina? I trust you know what to do, should they find you?"

Regina nodded. "No need to worry. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

After a quick sweep through the palace, however, it turned out there was nothing to worry about. Whoever had done this damage to the building, they had left a while ago.

Snow drew open the curtains to let the sun in, and pulled the sheets off the furniture, every last one of them, until only the round table remained. Snow smiled. "Do you remember?" she asked her husband. "All the hours we spend at this table, trying to figure out ways to stop the curse from being activated? Finding a way to at least keep Emma safe."

"Not just those hours. I remember the times we sat here with our family and friends, too." Charming answered, wrapping his arms around her. "Remember? The joy, the laughter? The wine?" He turned to the dwarves with that last word, and they grinned back in union.

He turned back to his wife. "We had some good moments here, wonderful moments. Let's not forget that."

The whole group remained silent for a few minutes, all remembering their own moments of happiness. Then, Snow cleared her throat and grabbed a broom that was propped up against a wall. "Right. Let's get to work then."

Geppetto stared at her. "Certainly you do not plan to clean this palace yourself? You're… Well, you're the Queen!"

Snow smirked. "Hey, I did spend quite a long time taking care of seven dwarves, why wouldn't I?" Then she pointed at a door on the other end of the hall. "Doesn't mean you can't help, though. More supplies are through that door."

And so they spend the next few days returning the palace to its former glory. Belle, who had refused to discuss Rumplestiltskin's encounter with Pan so far, cleaned all the heavy curtains, the dwarves put all the doors back into their hinges, Hook and Neal helped Charming with carrying out broken pieces of furniture while Geppetto would fix what was still salvageable, and Regina, who had promised not to use her magic for small things like these, was helping Snow clean the windows.

Eventually, all rooms had been taken care off. All, but one. Snow now stood in this very room, looking at the damage Cora had done to it when they were last here. Staring at the crib they never got to use. And suddenly the grief came rushing over her. She had tried her best to conceal it from the others, wanting to preserve the cheerfulness that had surrounded them during these past few days. But now she was reminded of it so deeply, that she could not hide it anymore. As tears welled up in her eyes, she felt someone approaching her, wrapping his arms around her once more. She leaned back against him, letting the tears stream down her cheeks. "I know I'm supposed to be grateful to be back here, it's what we've talked about in the last few months. And I _am_ happy, but it wasn't supposed to be like this. _She_ was supposed to be here, they both were."

"I know," her husband acknowledged with a soothing voice. "And I wish we could go back, but we can't. This was the price we had to pay. She doesn't remember us. She has different memories now, happy memories. And maybe that's for the best." He spun her around so that they were now facing each other. "But I promise you; we will make sure everyone in this land, and all the lands beyond this one, will know who she is. What she meant to us, and to those who were taken to Storybrooke. They will know the savior she was. She will not be forgotten. And neither will Henry."

Snow pressed her forehead against his. "Why is it that every time we so much even consider being happy, it just gets ripped away from us again?"

"It'll be different this time," Charming whispered. They stood like this for a few more moments. Then, Snow lifted her head. "I think I'll ask Regina to use her magic to clean this one. I don't think I can bear to pick up the pieces in this room." Then she frowned, and brought her hand to Charming's cheek. "You're bleeding."

He followed her hand to his jaw and touched the cut. "Hm, must've happened while we were hauling out the broken furniture. Nothing too bad, I'll live." He gave his wife half a smile, which she returned.

"Uh, guys? Hate to interrupt the moment you're having, but we've got a bit of a situation out there." Grumpy had appeared in the doorway, looking concerned. Worried, Snow and Charming followed him out to the main hall. Could it have been savages again, could they have returned? Snow could slap herself on the forehead for leaving her bow on the table, but she saw Charming reach for his sword. Whatever it was, they were with more than enough capable people. However, when they reached the main hall, there seemed to be no fight, or any sort of commotion. For a moment, Snow looked around in confusion, unsure of why Grumpy had come for them.

Then, she saw the short, blond woman standing next to the rest of the dwarves, and Snow let out a gasp. "Johanna?"


	5. Chapter 5

**And here we are again, a new chapter! Much less dialogue, much more inner thoughts and debates. Hope you like it anyway, and thanks again for the kind words!**

NEW YORK, PRESENT DAY

For the next four days, Emma and Henry had been able to live a quiet life. Henry went on with his normal day activities, and Emma did not have anymore run-ins with Killian the pirate. And although she still had her dreams every night, she had been able to relax a bit more. At one point, she had managed to convince herself that she had made Killian up because she had been so tired. On the fifth day, it was a Saturday, she and Henry decided to go to a book fair that was in town. Although Emma wasn't much of a reader, she had always found it very important to read to Henry from the moment he was born, to surround him with stories and enrich him with knowledge. And Henry had loved it. He would be quiet and listen to her voice and look at the pictures. And when he grew older, he would read the books himself. Wherever they went, he would always bring his books. And although he loved pretty much everything from science fiction to historic novels, his favourite were still fantasy stories. The ones that always had a happy ending, no matter what. Emma suspected it had something to do with their own lack of happy ending. Sure, the two of them were happy together, and they were living a good life. But she knew he missed his father's presence. Henry had only been two years old when his father, a fire fighter, had perished in the flames while trying to rescue a little girl. His father died a hero, and Henry was proud of this, but he still missed him, the idea of him. They didn't have the conventional happy ending.

So, when Henry announced that the book fair was coming to town again, Emma had smiled and promised him to take him there. And so now, here they were. Rows upon rows of books were stuffed away on shelves, on tables, and even on chairs. Emma was amazed at the sight of this, and surprised once again by how many books there were.

"Hey mom, aren't you going to buy anything? I know you don't read that much, but there's got to be something you like, right?" Emma turned around when she heard her son's voice, and she burst out in laughter when she saw the stack of books he was carrying in his arms. "See, now how is it possible that we've only been here for 15 minutes, and you've already managed to find, what, eleven books?"

"I couldn't help it. They were just lying there. I couldn't not grab them," Henry answered with an innocent look. Emma shook her head. "How about you go got one of those shopping carts, huh? Might be a little bit easier for you."

As Henry hurried off to find himself a cart, Emma walked past the tables, letting her fingers slide over the books. In all the years they had come here, she never bought a book. She was more a magazine reader. She could never find the time or concentration to sit down with a book, she would get bored. She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks when she saw it. A brown, old, battered looking book, much older than most of the books on the table. She stared at it, unable to look away and instead, feeling even more drawn to it. Slowly, she picked it up. The cover was made out of leather, and the letters on the front seemed a mixture of gold, brown and black, forming the words of the title '_Once Upon A Time_'. Fairytales. Not exactly her thing, and yet she couldn't bring herself to put it back on the table. She frowned, and felt slightly uncomfortable. She felt attached to the book, like it was a part of her she didn't know she'd been missing until she'd picked it up just now. Slowly she opened it, and stared at the pictures. Flipping through the pages, she recognized the stories of Snow White, Cinderella, The Beauty and The Beast and so on. As she read paragraph here and there, however, she noticed that the stories weren't exactly as she'd remembered them. The Snow White fairytale mentions Prince Charming having a twin brother, Little Red Riding Hood was apparently also the wolf in this version of the story, and although he seemed to have a different name in every story, the same, monstrous looking man popped up in a lot of the fairytales.

As she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about these people, she flipped another page. She instantly felt as if the air was sucked out of her lungs, and she reached with her hand for the table to steady herself. There he was again. The beautiful man with those sad gray eyes. The drawing was identical to the man she'd seen in her dreams.

Her breathing became heavier. "This is impossible," she whispered. "This is ridiculous."

"What is?" Henry had sneaked up her and looked at the book with curiosity. "Hey, did you find something after all?"

It took Emma everything she had to pull herself together, tear her gaze away from the book and look at her son. "Yeah," she answered and she even managed to smile. "Yeah, it's - it's nothing, really. But I think I'll buy it anyway."

"Great!" Henry smiled, pulling the book from her hands and putting it in his cart. "I'm done, shall we go?" Emma nodded and followed her son, but later on, she had no idea how she ever managed to walk out of there.

She spend the rest of the evening reading the book, although she kept coming back to his story. The Huntsman, is what he was called. The Huntsman who was ordered by the Queen to take Snow White into the woods, cut out her heart and return it to the Queen as proof. But he was so sensitive and had been so touched by Snow's letter to the Queen, that he had instead opted to let her go, and return the heart of a deer to the Queen. When the Queen found out, she had ripped The Huntsman's own heart out of his chest, condemning him to a life as her slave.

While reading and re-reading his story, Emma couldn't shake the feeling like she'd read it all before. Sure, she was familiar with the story of Snow White, she'd read it to Henry all the time when he was still a little boy. But the story of the Huntsman ends after he lets her go, there is no mention of him after that. Yet, his story has more to tell. He remained in the Queen's castle for years, unable to leave. And then one day, he was able to defy the Queen in a way she hadn't foreseen. Prince Charming was being held captive inside her castle, but had managed to escape. And when the Huntsman found out about this, he aided the Prince, making sure he would be able to return to Snow White. The Queen was enraged when she discovered his participation in the Prince's escape and had her knights throw the Huntsman in the dungeon. That was where, for now, his story ended. But somewhere deep inside, Emma knew there was more to it. Like his story wasn't over yet and there was still so much more.

She sighed as she closed the book. A little earlier she had also realized that all the other characters had seemed so familiar to her because she'd seen _them_ in her dreams as well. So now, she'd seen the people from her dreams both in real life, as well as in some old book. Emma was as down-to-earth as anyone could be and wasn't much of a believer. But even she had to admit something strange was going on. And the only way she'd be able to find out what, was to find the one person who she knew for a fact had something to do with this. She had to find Killian, and ask him. About her dreams, about the book. And about the Huntsman. She needed to know why the Huntsman was so important to her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again. A longer chapter this time, wanted to het all of this down without having to split it up in chapters again. I apologize if there are more grammer/spelling mistakes than usual; I've been quite sick for the last week, and the first thing to go when I'm sick is my ability to speak and write in other languages. Thanks once again for the reviews, and sticking by me. This chapter's a big one! :)**

THE ENCHANTED FOREST, ONE YEAR AGO

Snow stared at the former maiden and nanny. "Johanna? I, I don't… how can you be here, you're dead." She was unable to understand what was happening. She watched Johanna die, she was thrown out of the tower. She didn't survive that.

"I don't know either," Johanna answered with a trembling voice. "I – I remember dying, it was… frightening. But then I was here again. I don't know how, I…" Johanna stopped her rambling, unsure of what to say.

Snow turned to Regina. "You. What is this? Is this some sort of trick, what's happening here?"

Regina had stared at the situation that was unfolding right before her eyes, trying to comprehend what was going on. "I'm not sure," she said honestly. "I think it might be why Archie, for example, is a cricket again."

"I'm a cricket because that's who I was before the Curse was activated," Archie responded, hovering closer to Regina. "I've returned to my former form because you reversed the Curse."

"Yes, you've returned to who you were before the Curse took you. You were a man, and now you're a cricket again. Johanna was dead, and now she's alive again." Regina replied.

"That's your explanation? It's a little… simple, don't you think?" Charming asked her.

"Yes, but it's the only one I've got. Look at all of us, we look like we did before we were transported to Storybrooke. So technically, because she was part of the Curse, Johanna was returned to her original form as well."

"If that's the case, then why am I not pregnant again? That was my original form," Snow wondered.

"Maybe it's because you'd already given birth by the time the Curse took you, but I think it's more likely because Emma wasn't included this time. I excluded her from the Curse, she wouldn't have to return here, so logically, you wouldn't be pregnant either." Regina answered.

"This day is getting stranger and stranger," Snow mumbled. She then hurried over to Johanna. "But no matter the reason, I am so happy to see you again. I have missed you." She hugged the woman she had always considered a second mother, and for a moment, she felt like the little girl again from years ago.

Hook cleared his throat. "Eh, I'm not."

Everyone turned to Hook with confused looks on their faces. "I'm not where I was when the Curse started," he clarified. "Neither is Baelfire over here. So how does that work?"

"Well you weren't part of the Curse, were you?" Charming replied, looking at Regina for confirmation. "You were either protected by Cora, or already in another world. When Regina reversed the Curse, it simply brought you to where we are now cause it didn't know where else to bring you."

"He's right," Regina nodded. "You two, my mother, Pan, the Lost Boys… you weren't part of it. You all entered Storybrooke on your own, and for your own reasons that went beyond this Curse. You're here now because you were still inside Storybrooke when the Curse was set in motion again." Regina looked around, noticing not everyone was convinced. "Look, I realize it's not exactly a perfect explanation, but it's the only one I've got. Magic often acts in ways we can not understand. A spell or curse will do what you want it do, but if you don't take in account all the factors and elements that are present, magic will try to solve that by itself."

"I think Snow got it right; this day is getting stranger and stranger," Grumpy huffed.

Snow turned back to Johanna. "Can I get you anything? The palace is a bit empty, but I'm sure we can find something in the kitchen." Johanna laughed. "Something that's still edible after 29 years? Doubtful."

"I'll go out to get something." Belle spoke for the first time that day. "We've lived off whatever grows around the palace for the last week, but we'll run out soon. We're going to need more food. Better food." She put her knife her one of the pockets from her pants she'd borrowed from Snow.

"I'll come with you," Charming offered. "I don't need help, and I would actually like to be alone," Belle protested. "I know you do. But you've seen what this land looks like. We might have to go deeper into the woods to get some useful stuff. Go back to the old trading markets, perhaps. And we have no idea who or what might be out there." Charming smiled. "I won't bother you, I promise."

Belle gave him half a smile. "Alright. We should go now, then. It'll be dark soon."

"I'll come too," Neal said. "Always was more at home in the woods. Might be of better help with you than here."

"Alright," Charming nodded. "But you better take one of my swords with you. Like I said; we don't know what's out there."

"I think we should send out more people," Snow added. "A group to find others. We were all transported back to this land, but we haven't come across any of the others yet, except for Geppetto and Pinocchio. We should find them, see if we can help them with anything, or if they want to come back to this place."

"Sounds like a good idea. I volunteer," Hook said. "Then I'll come with you. This might come as a shock to you, but most of Storybrooke's population isn't too fond of you," Snow smirked. "Besides, I know where Red and her grams will most likely be, so we can see if they want to come along as well." She turned to the rest of the group. "Will you be okay back here?"

"Don't worry, Snow. We'll be fine," Grumpy replied. "Besides," he gestured at Regina, "if we starve to death, she'll conjure up the best meal ever."

Regina frowned. "What happened to not using magic?"

"Oh, it's just to prevent us from dying in any way. You owe us."

"You're not ever gonna let me forget that, are you?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, I'm crazy like that," Grumpy responded, then turned back to Snow. "We'll be fine. Go. The more people you find, the better."

Soon, the two groups had left the palace, while the people that remained there were lighting up the fireplace. After about five minutes of walking together, Snow's group and Charming's group said their farewells and split up.

Charming, Belle and Neal were marching through the woods, with Charming and Neal plucking and cutting fruits from the trees, while Belle was collecting some edible plants left and right. At one point, she turned around to face them. "Stop staring at me."

The two men stopped dead in their tracks, surprised by Belle's sudden confrontation. "We, eh, we weren't staring," Neal said, not very convincing.

"Oh please. I could practically feel your eyes burning holes into my back. Stop it, okay? I don't need it."

"It's just… Well I was surprised you didn't ask about my dad in there," Neal explained. "And I do worry about you."

Belle sighed. "There is no need to ask about Rumple and if he's here. He was already gone by the time the Curse came around again. Him and Pan… they weren't in the same world as ours anymore, so I don't think the Curse would include him, would it?"

"No. No I don't think it would," Neal replied quietly.

"No, it wouldn't. So I appreciate your concern, I really do. But right now I don't want to talk about any of it, so can we please just -" Belle stopped talking when she saw something move behind the two men. They both turned around and pulled out their swords before they could see what it was. Then, a few yards away, a huge gray wolf came staggering out of the bushes.

Carefully, Neal aimed Snow's bow at the animal, but Charming blocked it with his arm. "Are you insane?" he whispered. "You can't shoot him."

"We need food," Neal insisted. "Those fruits and plants aren't going to last very long. And in case you haven't noticed, this is the first animal we've come across. I doubt we'll see any bunnies hopping around here."

"Yeah, but that's a wolf," Belle hissed at him. "You don't just shoot a wolf."

"You should listen to what the lady says. She makes a lot of sense." The unknown voice from behind them made them freeze on the spot.

"Besides, that's not just any wolf. That's my family." The man slowly started to circle around, his own bow and arrow aimed at them. "And I don't take kindly to people trying to kill my family."

The three stared at the man, although Belle and Neal did not know what Charming already knew. The moment the man laid eyes upon Charming, he frowned for a second, and then his eyes widened. "David?"

Neal and Belle turned their heads to their right, trying to put together what was going on here. "Friend of yours?" Neal asked.

Charming smiled as him and the man shook hands. "Yeah. Yeah, this is Graham."


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again for all your kind words! The story's really starting to pick up now, so I hope you'll stick by it!**

NEW YORK, PRESENT DAY

"This is ridiculous. First, the guy pops up unwanted everywhere I go, and then when I actually need him, he's nowhere to be found." Emma had spend the last two days searching for Killian the pirate, but had no luck so far. She'd walked the streets of Manhattan for hours, looked in every bar she knew off, and she'd even asked a few random people if they'd seen him. She'd stopped doing the latter after the fifth person had asked her if this was her idea of a joke. In all fairness, she thought to herself, she probably should've just asked about a guy dressed as a pirate, rather than asking people if they had seen Captain Hook. She let out a frustrated sigh and started to head back to her apartment. Her next step was to call any nearby hospitals and ER-posts to see if maybe a pirate had been brought in yesterday.

She shut he front door behind, and frowned when she saw Henry walk up to her. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be at Jake's?"

"Yeah, I'm heading out now, but we have a guest, so I figured I'd wait till you got home." Henry replied as he put on his coat. "He's in there," pointing at the living room, and then gave his mom a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you tonight."

"Bye Henry, I love you," Emma said, though a little distracted. She headed straight to the living room and froze when she saw Killian sitting on the couch.

"You!" She breathed out. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Yes, I know, they told me."

"They told you? Who's they?" Emma demanded.

Killian shrugged. "Some people who've been helping me locate you, getting you to believe my story. They saw you asking random strangers about me. I must say I'm flattered."

"Don't be, this isn't about you, it's about your story." Emma snapped.

"Finally ready to believe it then, love?" Killian asked her, as he made himself more comfortable on her couch.

"I don't know even know what it is that I'm supposed to believe. Right now, I don't even trust you."

"And yet you were looking for me, which suggests at least a part of you knows I'm telling the truth." Killian said, studying her face. "So why don't you just start with what you want to know."

Emma sighed. "I don't know what I want to know. A week ago I thought you were crazy, and now… It's like pieces I didn't even know were there are starting to fall into place. It's like every confusing thing and incident in my life is all tied to this, but I don't know how. And then this weekend, I found this book, and it's just…" Emma didn't finish her sentence, but Killian nodded. "Yes, Archie told me you'd found it. We were hoping it would get you to believe a bit sooner."

Emma frowned. "Who's Archie? And how does he know this?"

Killian chuckled. "You know, I could tell you, but I honestly doubt you'd believe me. You're not ready for that part yet."

"Then what part am I ready for?" she inquired. "The part about where I know you from? Why these fairytale characters from an old book appear in my dreams every single night? Or the part where you keep insisting my family is in danger, even though I don't have anyone but my son?"

"Well, let's start with the book then, shall we, love?" Killian moved closer to her as he started his story. "The people in that book, the fairytale characters, they're real. Based on actual real, living and breathing people. Most of them." he added.

Emma raised her eyebrows. "Real people? Are you kidding me?"

"Hardly. The book was writing after these people were born, although we still don't yet exactly who wrote it. But those characters are real. They're just not a part of this world, they live in their own worlds." He got up, lifted the book from the diner table, and then sat back down again. He flipped through the pages until he got to the story of Snow White. "This is Snow White, and her husband, Charming. Although he also goes by David, it's a bit confusing." He stared at Emma and then took a deep breath. "They're your parents."

Emma squinted her eyes at him for a few seconds, then she pressed her lips together and nodded. "Hmm okay, that's about enough. Please leave."

Killian made no attempt to get up, and instead flipped a few pages further. "I can prove it. Look at this. This is Snow White, Charming, and their daughter, moments after she was born. Look at her blanket, look at it." He held the book up for her to see the picture. Emma, despite now convinced he was insane, couldn't help herself and looked at it. A little baby was wrapped in a yellow-ish, woollen blanket, while her parents were kissing her head. It wasn't the image of a happy family that shook her to her core, however. It was the blanket, because when she looked at it a bit harder, she saw there was something written on the blanket in big, curly purple writing. '_Emma'_. It was the same blanket she had lying in her closet, the one she was found in as a baby.

"That's… That's just some coincidence," she muttered.

"No, it isn't. Those are your parents, and you are that baby." Killian said. He flipped a few pages back. "What about him then?"

Emma stared at the picture of the man she'd seen so many times already. In her dreams, on the streets if she would focus hard enough. "I… I don't know who that is. I know him, but I don't know how."

"His name's Graham. That's his." Killian pointed at the shoelace around her wrist.

Emma's eyes widened as she touched the shoelace. "His? Why?"

Killian shook his head. "No, you're not quite ready for that yet. But please Swan, just sit down and listen to me."

Emma stared at him, trying to figure out if he was lying, and this was all just part of some joke. But she it in his face, his eyes, that he wasn't lying at all. There was something about his voice that told her she had to trust him. So she took a deep breath, and sat down next to him. "Alright. Start talking."

And so he talked. About the EnchantedForest and the lands surrounding it. About Snow White and the Evil Queen, and how their never-ending feud led to the Queen releasing the Curse. He told her how all residents were now normal people, with no memory of who they were, cursed to spend an eternity living the same day over and over again. He told her about Henry, her son, whom she'd actually given up for adoption, and how he was not so coincidentally adopted by the Evil Queen, also known as Regina. But Henry wasn't affected by the Curse. He grew up and noticed something was wrong. He was the one to realize all his friends, and neighbours were actually fairytale characters. And when he'd read the entire book, he knew he had to find her, Emma, his mother, and bring her to his town, Storybrooke. From the moment she'd set foot in that town, the Curse started to get weaker, until one year later, Emma finally remembered and believed.

"Wait, so… you're telling me my son died in order to get me to believe?" Emma interrupted him.

"He was very determined to get you to believe. I'm hoping I won't have to resort to such extreme measures, however."

Then he continued. Because even though the Curse was now broken, everyone was still stuck in Storybrooke. Magic, in an unstable form, had returned again, and it had brought Emma and her mother back to the EnchantedForest. "That is where we met," Killian said with a half a smile. "So… you're actually Captain Hook? The one from Peter Pan's story, the villain with the bad perm?" Emma asked him curiously, though still cautious.

Hook's face now broke into a complete smile. "Interesting. Not the first time you've said that about me. You're getting there."

He then told her how she and her mother eventually found a way home, but so did he and Cora, Regina's mother. "Not long after that, you, Henry and Rumplestilskin left for Manhattan to find his son Baelfire. Bit of a shock when you came face to face with him. You weren't expecting to run into Henry's father anytime soon. But everything -"

"Henery's father?" Emma interrupted him once again. "As in Neal Cassidy? What is that, some kind of joke? Neal died 11 years ago, in a fire."

"Oh, is that the memory you got? We were wondering how his absence would be explained in this new life of yours." Killian nodded.

"His absence? What, he's not actually dead?" Emma almost laughed at the absurd thought of this. He was dead. The pathologist had confirmed it was him, and then she'd buried him. His grave was still at the cemetery a few blocks from here.

"He's not, Emma. He's part of the EnchantedForest, one of those fairytale characters."

"So then where did he go? Where did everyone go?"

And so Killian told her about Neverland, where Henry was taken to on orders of Peter Pan who, as it turned out, really was a villain. After spending weeks on the island trying to get Henry back, they all eventually returned to Storybrooke, but there was a catch. Pan and his right hand Felix had come along, and they stole the Curse from Regina's vault to activate it once more. To save everyone from this terrible fate, Regina used her magic to reverse her own Curse. This meant everything would return to the way it was. Storybrooke would disappear, and everyone would be returned to their home worlds.

"But Henry was the only who was already in his home world; he would be left behind. So Regina chose to exclude you from the Curse and allow you to stay with Henry instead. The downside of this was that since Storybrooke technically never happened, you would not have any memories of it, either. So Regina gave you new ones instead. Happy memories, where you and Henry have been together since he was born. It was the only way," Killian concluded his story.

Emma remained silent for a few minutes, trying to let it all sink in without losing her mind. So much of his story sounded ridiculous, and on any other given day, she would've kicked him out of his house for daring to tell her all of this, and expecting her to believe it. Even now, she wasn't sure if she believed him. It was absurd. And yet, it somehow made sense. Because although she clearly remembered changing Henry's diaper for the first time, seeing Neal off to his work, and working at the real estate, she also felt sometimes like it wasn't really her life. Like she was an outsider looking in on a life that could be hers, but didn't actually happen. And then there were her dreams. All those people she would see in her dreams. If they were actually real, and she'd known them, it would make sense for her mind to conjure them up when she was subconscious.

She sighed. "Okay. Lets say I believe you. What do we do now? You said my family was in danger. So, what? You want me to jump into one of your precious portals and go to their lands to save them?" She couldn't help but sound a little sarcastic.

Killian chose to ignore it, however. "No, that won't be necessary. You see, they're not there anymore. They're here."

Emma's eyes widened. "Here, Manhattan-here?"

"Not exactly. We're going to have to go to Maine."

"To Maine?" Emma repeated him.

"Yes. I told you about Storybrooke, right?"


	8. Chapter 8

**And here we are again, another chapter. I hope you guys are still enjoying it. Please note that althought this is obviously a Gremma fic, I also feel obliged to tell parts of other character's stories, in order to make the entire fic work. Let me know what you think!**

ENCHANTED FOREST, 11 MONTHS AGO

"… and that's when I woke up here, with him by my side," Graham concluded his story. "It was quite confusing at first. The last thing I remember is being in my office with Emma, feeling this sharp pain in my chest, and then I'm here all of a sudden. It took me a while to figure out. Still not sure I know everything."

"Well, neither do we. Not entirely. We know it has something to do with the Curse, but don't ask me to explain it. We barely understand it ourselves." Charming replied.

A few feet behind them, Belle and Neal were following them, catching bits and pieces of the conversation, while Belle was still looking for more food. "So, that's the guy. Henry told me about him. Said Graham was the first one to regain his memories." Neal mumbled to Belle.

"I never knew him," she replied. "I was still in that basement when he died, and I've never seen him around the lands here either. He seems nice."

"How can you tell?"

"Do you really think David would be having a friendly conversation with him if he was up to no good? Besides; has Henry told you bad things about him?"

"No, he didn't. Just that Graham was starting to get his memories back after he kissed Emma." Neal muttered.

"Emma? They were a thing?" Belle asked. When Neal gave his head a little jerk that could pass as a nod, she continued. "More men to vie for her attention, then."

"If she'd be here, yeah. But she's not. She never will be."

Belle hooked her arm into his. "We'll get through this. Together. And who knows, maybe we haven't run out of miracles yet."

Neal smirked. "I have never met a more positive person than you, you know that? It's nice."

A few feet ahead, Charming was trying to explain everything that happened to Graham. "So, everyone's back now? Here, in our land?" The Huntsman asked him.

"Yeah, except for Emma and Henry. They had to stay behind." Charming explained.

Graham remind quiet, which Charming noticed. "You know, she took your death pretty hard. Not that you could tell at first. She worked harder than ever, especially after she was made Sheriff. But Snow could tell. Something about Emma's behaviour, like she was back to having those walls up again."

Graham smiled. "Yeah, those walls weren't easy to tear down. I don't think I ever did, though."

"But you did," Charming protested. "Maybe not everything, but Emma allowed herself to care about you. And that's a huge deal for her."

"Not that it matters now," Graham spoke. "But at least she's with Henry, and they're happy, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Charming said. "I hope so."

Graham smiled. "Then that's all that matters. So, shall I help you gather food?"

0000

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In another part of the Forest, Snow and Hook found themselves in a bit of trouble. Running from flying creatures they had never seen before, Snow shot one arrow after another at them, while Hook tried to wound them with his sword.

"What in the hell are these things?! I don't remember these roaming this land last time we were here," he yelled, while fending off yet another creature. Another dropped next to him, and arrow sticking out of its chest. "Nice one, love."

"That's not my arrow," Snow shouted back, scouting the sky for more creatures.

"No, that's my arrow." A voice from behind them informed them.

They turned around in union, weary of the man standing in front of them. He slung his bow over his shoulder, however, and extended his hand. "The name's Robin. At your service."

Hook cautiously shook his hand, but Snow's face broke into a smile. "I've heard of you. He who steals from the rich to help the poor. Sounds like a man with his heart in the right place."

"Well, what can I say. What's the point in keeping all the money and gold if you can share it?" Robin replied with a broad grin on his face.

"Yes, lovely how you two are getting along," Hook said, while poking the dead creature with his sword. "But is this a bloody monkey… with wings?"

"Looks like it," Robin replied, investigating the creature. "We've seen more of them in the last few weeks. We're actually out here trying to determine their nest, or cave, or whatever they sleep in. That's when we saw you."

"Thank God you did, I'm not entirely sure we could've taken them out by ourselves," Snow smiled.

"So, where did you come from?" Robin asked. "I know who you are, your majesty, but last time I heard, you were in that dreadful place of Neverland."

"Right, you helped Neal get back to us. Thanks for that. Well, as you can see, we managed to escape Neverland. Unfortunately not without a price. Some of its residents came back with us and cast another Curse. Coming back here was the only way to escape that," Snow explained.

"Well, no offense, because I realize it might not be what you wanted, but I'm glad you're all back. A lot of strange things have been happening in the forest for the last few weeks, and I think we need all the help we can get trying to figure out what's going on."

Robin pulled the arrow out of the monkey, wiped it clean on the grass, and put it back with the rest. "So, how do you feel about teaming up, your majesty?"

"It's Snow, no need to address me with anything else. And it sounds like a good idea, as long as you don't mind teaming up with a lot more people than just us two." She slung her bow over her shoulder and nodded at Hook. "It's why we're out here. We're trying to find as many of our friends as possible."

"Then we shall help you find them, Snow." Robin smiled as he gestured with his hand. "Lead the way."

0000

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With fruit, herbs and some small wildlife in their bags, Charming and his group had slowly started making their way back to the palace. He and Belle had been talking about how to best take back their entire land, and so Graham had take in upon himself to talk to the man he had never seen before.

"So, who are you then? I don't remember seeing you anywhere in these lands before the Curse hit."

"That's because I haven't been here in centuries," Neal replied, and he smirked when he saw the confusion on Graham's face. "My father, Rumplestiltskin, or Mr. Gold, we got separated a long time ago when I'd found a way out of this world. I went through the portal, he stayed behind. I ended up in a place where children don't age, and it took me a very long time to escape. I didn't come to that other world until 20 years ago."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Graham frowned. "But it sounds terrible. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. My last world wasn't so bad. I met Emma, we had Henry… It wasn't a fairytale, but it was still a good life."

Graham studied Neal's face. "You're Henry's father? I thought you died in a fire, years ago?"

"Yeah, apparently that's the story Emma told the others. Guess that tells you how much she resented me for leaving her."

"She definitely deserved better." Graham couldn't help but sound accusing.

" What, like you? Yeah, I heard about you two. You weren't exactly the most stable option either, were you?" Neal had stopped walking and grabbed Graham by his arm.

"You might want to let go of me, Neal. I'm not much of a people's person as it is." Graham glared down at Neal, and his grey eyes seemed to have gone dark.

Before any of them could say another word, they were distracted by a loud bang a few yards ahead from them, followed by a loud groan.

"Okay, that hurt," Charming grunted, getting back on his feet after he had inexplicably been slammed into the ground.

"Oh God, are you alright?" Belle asked him worriedly, checking him for any injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he replied as her rubbed his neck. "What happened, though?" He stretched out his hand and a few seconds later, he felt the same electric-like shock going through his body again.

"What is it?" Graham asked him.

"I don't know." Charming mumbled, carefully prodding the seemingly clear air in a few other spots. "There seems to be some sort of barrier here. Be careful though, it shocks you when you touch it."

"It's the same here," Graham said several yards to their left. "It seems to go on for miles."

"So, what the hell is it?" Neal asked.

"I don't know. Some kind of magic, obviously. But who would do this, and why?" Charming wondered.

"To protect whatever is on the other side," Belle stated. "Something or someone powerful is in there. And I don't think it's a good idea to provoke them when it's just us four."

Charming nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's go back a few hundred yards, and take a different path to our palace. We need to inform the others. Graham, you're with us?"

Graham marched back out of the bushes with the wolf right next to him. "Of course I am."


	9. Chapter 9

**Another week gone by, and another update. This is a big one ;) Thank you for all your lovely words, hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

STORYBROOKE, PRESENT DAY

"So, why exactly are we here again? With him?" Henry had been asking questions since they left New York early that day. Emma couldn't entirely blame him. She'd told him some story about living in Maine for a little while when she was younger, and that Killian was a friend she'd met there.

"I told you, Henry. We're just going to visit my old home, and a few friends." Emma tried to sound as casual as possible, even though she had no actual clue where exactly they were going. Sure. Storybrooke, Maine. Supposedly a nice little town, if you'd believe Killian. Which she still didn't, entirely. She let out a sigh of frustration. She still couldn't believe she was actually doing this, yet she somehow knew all the answers she wanted were there, in that nice little town of Storybrooke.

"Alright, stop right here." Hook's voice snapped her out of her endless stream of thoughts, and she pulled over. That's when she saw the sign. '_Welcome to Storybrooke_'. She suddenly felt a jolt of something that could pass as both fear and excitement. "Alright Swan, let's get out for a moment," Hook said, but shook his head when he saw Henry made an attempt to get out as well. "Sorry lad, not you. Need to have a word with your mother alone."

Hook walked over to a red line that seemed to be painted on the road, and he stopped right in front of it. "As that sign has undoubtedly informed you already, we are about to enter Storybrooke. This red line here represents the border of this town. People who try to cross it leaving Storybrooke… Well, not so pleasant things will happen to them. Now, I've been told that if you and your boy cross the line to _enter_ Storybrooke, it will jog your memory. Of course, I don't know if this will happen for sure, but if it does, you can feel a bit disoriented."

"Disoriented? And what do you mean by 'not so pleasant things'?" Emma started to feel more uncomfortable by the second.

"Your old memories will be returned to you, but you will still have your new memories as well. It could confuse you," Hook explained.

"Not sure I could feel anymore confused than I already do," Emma mumbled.

"So, you're ready?" Hook asked, stepping over the line while holding out his hand to her.

"What about Henry?"

"Well I thought it'd be better for you to regain your memories by yourself. Plus, I'm not all too familiar with that metal form of transportation you people call cars, but it seems to me things could go horribly wrong if you become disoriented while driving that."

Emma stared at him, processing what he just said. Then she nodded. "Yeah alright, makes sense."

She took a deep breath, and stepped over the line. For a few seconds she just stood there, without anything particularly interesting happening. But just as she was about to open her mouth and ask Hook if this was part of some prank all along, she felt like she was suddenly being punched in the face. Flashes of images were floating through her mind, voices, faces, _his face_. More and more memories were revealed to her, until suddenly it all stopped again. She grabbed her head and waited a few seconds before she opened her eyes. "Oh, that was… unlike anything I've experienced before."

"And?"

She looked up and smiled a little. "Hook. Hey."

Hook's face broke into a smile. "You remember, then."

"Yeah, I do. It's uh… it's a little foggy, but it's there. All of it." Then her smile faltered as she remembered something. "He's dead."

Hook frowned. "Who is?"

"Graham. Graham is dead."

Hook didn't say anything, but carefully grabbed her hand. "Let's go, Swan. We've got to get your son here as well."

They got back inside the car and Emma pushed down the gas pedal, still a little bit shaken by what just happened. "Mom, are you okay?" Henry asked, noticing she was upset.

Emma managed to give him a small smile in her rear-view mirror. "I'm fine, Henry." They approached the red line. "Now don't freak out, okay?"

"Freak out? Why would I -." He was cut shot mid-sentence as they crossed the red line, entering Storybrooke. Emma saw him grab his hand much like she'd done a few minutes ago, and knew he was regaining his memories as well. She drove for a little bit more until they had reached the town square and she pulled over next to Granny's. She turned to Henry as he slowly opened his eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so." He blinked a few times and then looked at Hook. "Hey, I remember you."

"There's a good lad," Hook grinned.

Henry looked outside the car window. "So we're back in Storybrooke. What happened, I thought it was gone?"

"Yeah, so did I. What happened here, Hook? Why is everything back again?" Emma asked him.

"I don't know, to be honest. Nobody does. All everyone knows is that there's another Curse," Hook replied while he got out of the car.

Emma and Henry followed. "What do you mean, another Curse? Haven't we had enough of those?"

"One would think so, but apparently Regina isn't the only one with Curses lying around." He led them up the stairs to Charming and Snow's apartment.

"So Regina didn't do this?"

"We don't know for sure, but she wouldn't have anything to gain with it. Memories wiped, no Henry." He knocked on the door before he continued. "It seems unlikely she would do this. Which is why your parents have been working with her, trying to figure out what happened."

The door opened and Hook grinned at Charming. "Special delivery."

Charming frowned, but when he looked past Hook, his expression changed immediately. "Emma. Henry. You're here, how…?"

Emma smiled and hugged him. "Hey David." She felt him wrap one arm around her as his other hand cradled her head, like he had done so often. It had always made her feel so safe.

After a few seconds they pulled apart and Henry grinned at Charming. "Hi grandpa, good to see you."

Charming smiled back as he pulled his grandson in for a hug. "You too, buddy."

He then held open the door for them. "Come in, please."

"Look who are here," he announced to Snow and Regina, who were sitting on the couch, anxiously discussing something while looking slightly concerned. They turned around, and their faces lit up when they saw Emma and Henry come in.

"Oh my God, Emma, Henry!" Snow smiled as she got up to hug them. "When Hook didn't show up after a few days, we were starting to get worried."

"Well it's not easy to be convinced about magical lands and curses when you don't remember anything," Emma said, staring at her mother's huge belly. "And wow, when did this happen?"

Snow rubbed her belly and smiled nervously. "Sometime during this last year, I suppose. I can't imagine it came with the Curse."

"You don't know?" Emma asked her shocked.

"No, we just woke up one day and we were here, in Storybrooke. Everything and everyone was back again, plus a few more. Except nobody knew how we got here, and what happened to us. That was about a month ago."

"That is so weird. How can something like this just happen. Did you have more Curses like this, Regina?"

Regina, who had been locked in an embrace with Henry, shook her head. "Curses don't come in a dozen. There's just one of them, and it takes a lot of magic to create them. Whoever did this must've known a hell of a lot about not only us, but also about our lives in Storybrooke, as well as magic. Not everyone can pull this off."

"What about leads, you got anything yet?" Emma asked.

Charming shook his head. "Nothing solid yet. The problem is that more people have joined us this time. Somehow, whoever did this, managed to include just about everyone. No magic bubbles or domes to protect them from the Curse. Which means we've got a lot of people we don't know or trust."

Emma grimaced at the thought of this, but then she saw Henry yawn. "I saw that, young man. It's bedtime for you."

"What, but we just got here, and we just got our memories back," Henry protested.

"That's no excuse, it's already way past your usual bedtime, so you need to go to sleep." She turned to Snow. "Can he use his old bedroom here?"

Snow nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. We haven't had a chance yet to redecorate it as the nursery room."

Emma gave Henry a little push towards the bedroom. "Let's go, go brush your teeth."

She followed him into the bedroom and put his backpack on a chair, and waited for him to come out of the bathroom. Regina peaked around the door. "Hey. Is it okay if I say goodnight to him?"

"Of course it is! Regina, he's your son, too. How about you tuck him in? Don't let him fool you, he still likes that."

Regina smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem." Emma nodded, and looked up when she heard the front door slam.

"Probably Leroy, he's been keeping an eye on the new people in town," Regina said.

"Sounds like the perfect job for him," Emma chuckled. She turned her head when Henry came out of the bathroom. "Alright, your mom's gonna put you to bed, okay?" She kissed Henry on his forehead. "Goodnight kid. I love you."

"I love you too, mom," Henry smiled.

Emma and Regina exchanged a brief nod and smile before Emma headed back to the living room, quietly closing the bedroom door behind her as to not to disturb the others. When she turned around, she felt as if though the air was sucked out of her lungs, and her heart started beating faster. She couldn't move or speak. All she could do was stand there, and watch. Watch as the man she'd had dreamed about for weeks, was standing next to her parents and Hook. Talking to them, although Emma seemed to hear nothing but the rush of her blood. This was not possible. He was dead. It was one of the first things she'd remembered today. He was dead, died in her arms over two years ago. He could not be here. And yet he was, heavily involved in a discussion with her parents, it seemed. She swallowed a few times, and when she finally managed to speak again, her voice sounded raw and hoarse.

"What the hell is this?"

The four stopped talking immediately and turned around in union. Charming took a few steps in her direction. "Emma, I know. Take a deep breath, okay."

"Don't tell me to take a deep breath, what is this?" Emma snapped at them. "Who are you?"

Graham looked at Snow with confusion. "She doesn't remember yet?"

"Oh, I do remember. I remember everything. Including Graham's death. Very vividly, trust me. So who are _you_?" She felt like she was being choked and she could hardly speak at all. Was this part of the Curse? Did it play mindgames with the people somehow?

Graham shook his head. "It's me, I promise. I don't know how, but I woke up here a month ago, just like everyone else. I remember dying, and then… Then I was back in my apartment again. But it is me, I promise." He took a few steps towards her. "Emma. This is real."

She was afraid to move, afraid that if she would take so much as one step, her legs would give in. She watched as he carefully moved closer to her, his face filled with concern. She saw his eyes, those sad grey eyes, now focussed on her. Then he was only a few inches away from her. He slowly took her hand, and placed it on the left side of his chest. She felt the soft thump of his heart underneath her palm, inside his chest, just as she had felt it two years ago. She let out a soft sob. "Graham?"

He simply nodded, and then he pulled her in for a hug. For a few seconds she couldn't do anything but stand there, but then she wrapped her arms around him. She closed her eyes, and felt the tension flow out of her body. He was alive. Graham was alive.


End file.
